SINGAPORE: Former principal of Pei Chun Public School Lee Lip Hong has been sentenced to nine weeks' jail for having paid sex with a minor.

He pleaded guilty on Friday morning.

He faced two counts but the court proceeded with one and took into consideration the second charge.

In passing sentence, Senior District Judge See Kee Oon stressed the need to "reinforce a message of deterrence".

He acknowledged that there was active representation on the website, as well as verbal assurance from the girl and text messages from the pimp.

However, the judge said Lee stopped short of checking against the inconsistencies of the various sources, and "allowed himself to be misled".

He added that Lee had chosen to "actively seek out her services" and made this decision consciously.

The judge also highlighted the girl's age, saying the law was put in place to protect the young and vulnerable.

He said the girl lacked maturity and was entitled to legal protection.

He added that any "presumed willingness" on her part had no mitigating value.

However, the Judge also noted that Lee committed the offence outside the scope of duties as an educator and did not abuse or exploit his position.

He also acknowledged Lee's decision to plead guilty early, saying it showed he was remorseful.

Earlier, the court heard that Lee first came to know of the girl's services from an Internet vice website.

He then procured her services through the website, which stated the girl's age as 18 years old.

Lee's lawyer Melanie Ho told the court that her client was misled about the girl's real age.

She said that when he met the girl's pimp, Tang Boon Thiew, he was told that the girl was 19 years old.

Ms Ho said Lee had no reason to suspect that she was younger than her stated age on the website.

She said when Lee met the girl, she told him she was 19 years old.

Ms Ho said Lee did not suspect anything was wrong and had no reason to doubt her stated age, based on her physical appearance, demeanour and maturity.

Lee broke down during the court session as his lawyer pleaded for leniency.

Ms Ho said her client was very remorseful and understood that he had made a very serious mistake.

Lee later requested to plead personally, telling the judge that even though he changed his mind and decided to engage a counsel, he never changed his decision to plead guilty.

He said he was fully ashamed of his actions, which have caused pain and harm to his family, especially his wife.

Lee said his wife had "magnanimously taken a tough decision" to forgive him and even proposed to reaffirm their wedding vows.

He also said he has disappointed many who have entrusted him to be their role model.

He also acknowledged that it was his personal lack of control of his moral standards and his weak resistance to distractions that led to his mistake.

When the jail sentence was handed down at about noon, Lee was seen wiping tears from his eyes.

Lee's lawyer, who had pleaded to the court to impose a fine, later told reporters that her client has taken full responsibility for his actions.

Ms Ho said: "Our client accepts his punishment. And as you have seen from the start, he has been ready to face the consequences of his mistake. He looks forward to moving on and putting all this behind him. He also wishes for forgiveness."

Lee could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.

- CNA/wm/fa

Ah yoh. Why like this? I think he deserves to be forgiven and should not be jailed. First of all, he was misled into believing that the girl is not underage. Secondly, he is already remorseful. Lastly, he never harm anybody what! Sure, he did hurt his wife and family but it is up to them to forgive him. Anyway, it was consensual sex what. Not like he force the girl or do already but don't want to pay. Really don't understand why can't the law/judge be more lenient.

SYDNEY: Fast food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken has been ordered to pay A$8 million (US$8.3 million) to an Australian girl who suffered severe brain damage and was paralysed after eating a Twister wrap.

Monika Samaan was seven when she suffered salmonella encephalopathy -- a brain injury linked to food poisoning that also left her with a blood infection and septic shock -- in October 2005.

Several other family members also fell ill and they claimed Samaan's injuries, which include severe cognitive, motor and speech impairment and spastic quadriplegia, were caused by a chicken Twister wrap from a Sydney KFC outlet.

The New South Wales Supreme Court ruled in the family's favour a week ago and on Friday ordered KFC to pay the girl A$8 million in damages plus legal costs.

In a statement, the family's lawyer George Vlahakis said they were relieved the battle was over.

"Monika's severe brain damage and severe disability has already exhausted the very limited resources of the family," he said.

"Monika is now a big girl and they are finding it increasingly difficult to lift her and to look after her basic needs as well as look after Monika's younger siblings.

"The compensation ordered is very much needed. KFC have to date been determined that Monika does not receive a cent."

Last week, KFC indicated it will appeal the decision but is yet to do so.

During the trial, Justice Stephen Rothman said the chicken became contaminated "because of the failure of one or more employees of KFC" to follow proper preparation rules, which he described as "negligent".

I like this car! So cute!! I hope the COE can go down. It has been increasing like crazy these days. The last time I saw it, it has hit the $90,000 mark. $90,000 is only to buy that piece of entitlement paper.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

I have been feeling very buay song lately. I am not sure exactly what I am unhappy about. There are just so many things which I am dissatisfied with. I don't know what to say or how to put it into words. Don't really know how to explain coz I don't even understand it myself. Crazy right? I am beginning not to understand myself more and more. Quarter-life crisis maybe?

Edit: I like to talk to Diana. Although we face different problems/issues but it just feels so good to rant to each other. Just pure ranting. Haha.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

SINGAPORE - The first group of men who allegedly paid for sex with a minor via an online vice ring - a case that grabbed headlines in February because it involved high-ranking men in the public and private sectors - were charged in court yesterday.

Among the 44 who entered the dock were former Pei Chun Public School principal Lee Lip Hong - the only one who said he intended to plead guilty - ex-lawyers, naval officers, a policeman and managing directors of private firms.

The offence carries mandatory imprisonment - paid sex with a girl under 18 carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail and a possible fine.

Lee, 39, faces two charges of having commercial sex with a minor. He was not represented and told the court he is not looking to engage a lawyer.

Lee had unexpectedly quit his job last December, telling parents of his former students in a letter that he was leaving because of personal reasons and family commitments.

It is not known how many underage girls are involved, but Tang Boon Thiew was named as the man who provided the prostitutes for the 44 who were charged yesterday.

Tang has been charged with 34 counts under the provisions of the Women's Charter and one count of commercial sex with a minor on Nov 4 last year. It is not known if more charges could be pressed against him. Offences relating to prostitution under the Women's Charter criminalise those who live off the earnings of prostitutes, among others.

In all, 60 men were said to have been called up to help in the investigations after their numbers were found stored in the mobile phone of the underage prostitute.

The men charged yesterday are aged between 21 and 48. All except two are Singaporeans.

They are said to have paid between S$450 and S$850 for the sexual services; some for a period of as short as 45 minutes. The offences allegedly took place between Sept 23, 2010, and Feb 18 last year.

Most of them allegedly took the prostitutes to budget hotels around Bencoolen. One of them had his tryst at Marina Bay Sands.

Criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan, who is representing the most number of the accused, argued that the charges against his 10 clients were flawed because they lacked the particulars of the alleged prostitute. The court heard that these details were left out at the direction of the Attorney-General's Chambers.

Mr Anandan said his clients would be claiming trial because they cannot plead guilty to the charges that did not state the name nor age of the prostitute.

Outside the court, Mr Anandan told reporters: "How is anybody going to know what he is charged for when you don't know who the girl is, and what her age is? We just can't accept the word of the prosecution ... We are going to ask the prosecution to give us further particulars. If they do not, we will take it up in the High Court."

Wah.. I usually support the ladies but now I've got to support the guys. How can they be charged if they don't know the age of the prostitutes or how can they be charged if the prostitute blatantly lied about her age? Should just charge the guy who provides the ladies. Lesson learnt - Next time must check IC or passport of prostitute liao.

SINGAPORE: The service disruption on the Circle Line, which began at 7.40am on Wednesday, was a result of a failure in the power supply to the communications network at Botanic Gardens Station, said SMRT.

Speaking to MediaCorp Radio's 938 Live, SMRT's senior vice president of communications and services, Goh Chee Kong, said this in turn interrupted the transmission of the signalling system that controls the safe operations of the trains.

As a result, the stretch between one-north and Marymount stations in both directions was affected.

The fault has been isolated and rectified, and full service resumed at 10.10am.

SMRT said its engineers, together with LTA, will continue to investigate the cause of the problem to prevent a recurrence.

It added that it had put out information on the service disruption on several platforms, including Traffic Watch, SMRT Twitter, SMRT's corporate website, SMRT Connect and digital screens at stations as well as SBS Transit's website and Iris platform.

SMRT said its Rail Incident Management Plan was activated at 8.15am. 70 buses were deployed when the free bus bridging services between Bishan and one-north were activated at 8.35am.

In addition, free travel on passing buses from both SBS Transit and SMRT was activated, while 80 extra staff were deployed on the ground to help direct affected commuters.

SMRT said passengers who were not able to continue with their journey because of the disruption, or had to exit an SMRT train station without taking a trip but had their fares deducted, can get a refund at the Passenger Service Centre in any of SMRT's 83 stations in the next 14 days.

- CNA/al

Got this from the CNA website. Seems like there are a lot of problems with our rail system these days. I don't mind if SMRT and SBS shut down their rail system and do a thorough check or servicing. Don't care how long it takes. It is better to ensure that there's no this kind of disruption in future.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

OMG!! My to-do list, to-buy list and to-blog-about list are getting longer and longer. They are all mentally in my head. Shall find one day to pen it down and have a serious thought about it. Till date I haven't blogged about my birthday celebrations although it is one month ago!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Am I too lenient? I treat my staff very well but in the end, I get cheated. WTH!!! Perhaps it's time to start firing. Anyway, employees complain about their employers and employers complain about their employees. Oh well~